


Summer 09 - Shorts and Prompts

by DieNachtAugen



Category: Left 4 Dead (Video Games)
Genre: Game: Left 4 Dead 2, M/M, My First Fanfic, My First Work in This Fandom, Shorts, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:56:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DieNachtAugen/pseuds/DieNachtAugen
Summary: This is a WIP version of a L4D/2 fanfic I'm working on. This version simply contains some short snippets and scenarios that I intend to include in the full story, and its main function is just to have a place to barf out my ideas for the story and to have a place where I can have people give out feedback for my writing since this is the first ever fanfic I've posted anywhere, and so feedback and comments are always appreciated!Taking into consideration that these are more or less just draft versions of the story's segments, anything in them is subject to change when I'm writing the full story, and some things may contradict even within these short drafts.I will put any additional warnings or anything else like that at the beginning of each chapter.
Relationships: Ellis/Nick (Left 4 Dead)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 17





	1. The Basic Stuff

This chapter doesn't really have any substance to it storywise, but it simply acts as a short introduction to the characters and the basic premise of the story.

* * *

**BASIC PREMISE OF THE STORY**

The setting of the story, titled _Summer 09_ at least for now, takes place in 2009 in an alternative scenario where the green flu doesn't take over the country and where the characters have (more or less) different occupations and aspirations while still having the same personalities and main aspects to them, or at least that's what I hope to achieve. The story's main focus is on Ellis and Nick as they come to know each other and slowly work their way into a close relationship with each other. The survivors from L4D2 are the "main" characters so to speak, but the survivors from the first game also have a major role, and I also have a small cast of side characters, some fictional and some from the games.

* * *

**CHARACTER INTRODUCTIONS**

Next will be short introductions and some basic information about the characters, starting with the survivors from the second game, following to the first game, and then some side characters. (Also just a side note: all the main characters have some parts of their name that have been inspired by either their voice actors or models)

**Left 4 Dead 2**

Ellis Liam McKinney

  * Birthdate: 7th April 1986 / Zodiac sign Aries
  * Age: 23
  * Height: 5’8’’ / 172 cm
  * Weight: 139 lbs / 63 kg
  * About: Ellis is a young, Irish-American guy originating from Savannah, Georgia. He is the bassist of a band he has with two of his friends, Dave and Keith.



Nicolas “Nick” Brad Ghazi

  * Birthdate: 29th October 1974 / Zodiac sign Scorpio
  * Age: 35
  * Height: 6’ / 182 cm
  * Weight: 176 lbs / 80 kg
  * About: Nick comes from NYC, and he is an avid gambler (still) as well as a former biker gang member.



Rochelle “Ro” Kayla Hampton

  * Birthdate: 10th January 1980 / Zodiac sign Capricorn
  * Age: 29
  * Height: 5’6’’ / 167 cm
  * Weight: 115 lbs / 52 kg
  * About: Rochelle is a 29-year-old doctor from Ohio. Ellis and his friends are quite frequent visitors to her clinic.



Darnell “Coach” Anthony Coleman

  * Birthdate: 23rd July 1966/ Zodiac sign Leo
  * Age: 44
  * Height: 6’1’’ / 185 cm
  * Weight: 265 lbs / 120 kg
  * About: Coach is a former football player and the owner of a semi-successful sports bar, which is a frequent hangout place for Ellis and his friends.



\--

**Left 4 Dead**

William “Bill” George Overbeck

  * Birthdate: 2nd September 1944 / Zodiac sign Virgo
  * Age: 65
  * Height: 6’ / 184 cm
  * Weight: 165 lbs / 75 kg
  * About: Bill is a retired veteran who now runs a local indoors shooting range. He is somewhat of a father figure to Zoey.



Zoey Alesia Taylor

  * Birthdate: 21st June 1988 / Zodiac sign Gemini
  * Age: 21
  * Height: 5’3’’ / 159 cm
  * Weight: 110 lbs / 50 kg
  * About: Zoey is a college drop-out and the owner of a movie rental shop.



Louis Justin Bennett

  * Birthdate: 25th September 1977 / Zodiac sign Libra
  * Age: 32
  * Height: 6’6’’ / 198 cm
  * Weight: 198 lbs / 90 kg
  * About: Louis is an office worker in a tech company who's sick of his job and who has greater aspirations for his life.



Francis Drake Valenzuela

  * Birthdate: 1st February 1972 / Zodiac sign Aquarius
  * Age: 37
  * Height: 6’5’’ / 195 cm
  * Weight: 231 lbs / 105 kg
  * About: Francis is a biker gang member with his older brother. He is an acquaintance of Nick's.



\--

**Side Characters** (Characters who are either only mentioned in the games, who play only a minor role in them, or who are completely made up for this story)

David “Dave” Wolfgang Moore

  * Birthdate: 1st May 1984 / Zodiac Sign Taurus
  * Age: 25
  * Height: 5'9'' / 177 cm
  * Weight: 154 lbs / 70 kg
  * About: Dave is a German-American guy who's friends with Ellis and Keith, as well as Keith's housemate. He's the drummer of the band the three have together.



Keith Theodore Allen

  * Birthdate: 23rd January 1986 / Zodiac Sign Aquarius
  * Age: 23
  * Height: 6'8'' / 205 cm
  * Weight: 167 lbs / 76 kg
  * About: Keith is a childhood friend of Ellis, and the most frequent subject for injuries during their little escapades. He is Dave's housemate and the guitarist and lead singer of the band the three have together.



Frederic “Fred” Thomas Valenzuela

  * Birthdate: 21st January 1968 / Zodiac sign Aquarius
  * Age: 41
  * Height: 6’2’’ / 189 cm
  * Weight: 209 lbs / 95 kg
  * About: Fred is Francis' older brother and a member of the same gang as him. He also knows Nick, though their relationship is less tedious than Nick's and Francis'.




	2. Short 1 - Friends with Benefits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nick has to tag along when Ellis visits his friends because he needs to retrieve something from them.

It felt weird to Nick how he had just gotten to know Ellis only a couple of days ago, and now he was following him to visit his friends because the boy needed to get something from them. He couldn’t really be bothered, honestly, but he still had agreed to it. He just hoped it wouldn’t transpire into something awkward and uncomfortable.

He also hoped that, although it wasn’t likely considering the type of a person the younger man was, Ellis’ friends wouldn’t be as overbearing with their personalities as he was. 

Luckily, their destination wasn’t that far from where they had left off, as it took only about ten minutes of walking or so until they had arrived. reasonably-sized, two-storey rental house. Its white-painted walls and dark grey tiled roof made it seem quite rural, which Nick thought fit pretty well considering they were in the South.

“We’re here,” Ellis announced.

“So this is where your friends live, huh.” Nick gave the place a quick look; they were at a reasonably sized, two-storey rental house. Its white-painted walls and dark grey tiled roof made it seem quite rural, which Nick thought fit pretty well considering they were in the South.

“Yup,” the Georgian said and walked to the front door and opened it, not even bothering to knock or ring the doorbell, instead just waltzing straight in like it was nobody’s business. It took the gambler somewhat by surprise, but right after the fact he assumed that Ellis and his friends were just so close to each other that they needn't announce their visits to each other. That, or Ellis had announced his plans to visit earlier.

Nick followed the other into the entryway, where Ellis was now standing and looking around.

“Heey-yoo!” Ellis practically shouted, after which he simply walked into what appeared to be the living room of the house. 

There, sitting on a couch, was one of the residents; a slightly taller guy with short, light hair and somewhat of a beer gut, donning a pair of black khaki pants and a tank top with a USA flag design, as well as a pair of thin framed glasses over his green eyes. The man looked up from his seat at Ellis and rose up with a smile to shake his hand. 

“Howdy,” he said and turned his gaze at Nick, who was now leaning against the door frame. “Who’s this then?”

Ellis turned to look at Nick and then back at his friend.

“Oh, that’s Nick,” he said, “he’s staying with me for a couple of nights ‘cuz his bike got wrecked.” 

Nick wasn’t too sure why it was any of Ellis’ friends' business as to why he was there, but apparently the hick felt it necessary to announce it to everyone else. 

“Well ain’t that somethin’,” the friend muttered and extended his hand. “Nice to meetcha. The name’s David but y’kin just call me Dave like everyone else.”

Nick didn’t reach out to shake the other’s hand.

“Yeah, sure,” he said plainly. He wasn’t planning to get all friendly with the others since he hopefully wouldn’t be staying there much longer, and by extension not seeing them again, anyway. 

Dave retrieved his hand and gave Ellis a questioning look, to which Ellis responded with a shrug.

“Is Keith here, by the way?” Ellis then asked the other.

“I’m here!” came a voice from the next room, which Nick assumed to be the kitchen, followed by another person coming into the room the others occupied. Nick almost dropped his jaw at the sight of him. 

First of all, he was tall as fuck (just short of six feet and ten inches if he were to guess), and secondly, lanky as all hell; the bastard looked like he hadn’t eaten anything in months, accentuated by his thick-as-stick arms and gaunt facial features, which were framed by shoulder-length, wavy, dark brown hair. His skin was also a sight, covered in blemishes, cuts, scars, and healed burn marks so that almost nothing that was visible had been left intact, aside from most of his face.

It made Nick feel somewhat uncomfortable, but he’d never outright admit that if you asked him.

“Wassup?” Keith asked his shorter friend with a faint smile. 

“Nothing much,” Ellis responded. “Oh by the way, Nick, this is Keith! Keith, Nick.” he said with a hand motioning between the two. Nick looked at Keith and gave a nod while leaning back against the wall.

“Pleasure,” Keith said. His voice was also another surprising thing to Nick, as it was a lot lower than he had initially imagined it would be by looking at him; at least an octave lower than both Ellis and Dave’s. 

“Keith’s the lead singer in our band, he’s pretty damn good at it too,” Ellis continued with one of those distinct smiles on his lips. “And he also plays the guitar.”

Nick simply nodded at the boy’s explanation.

“That’s fascinating,” he said with a sneer, his sarcasm apparently lost to the younger man. “Weren’t you supposed to get something here, by the way? I’ve got things to do.”

“Oh, right!” Ellis said in realization. “Hey Keith, ya got my bass here somewhere ready?”

“Yeah, it’s upstairs,” the taller man said and started heading for the stairs. “I’ll go get it.” Dave followed after him, leaving Nick and Ellis alone in the living room.

“So,” he started, “your friends live together, huh?”

“Yeah,” Ellis retorted, “they’ve been living together for a couple a’ years now.”

“Mmhm,” the gambler voiced. “And is there a reason you don’t live with them, too?”

“Well, it’s a bit difficult to find big enough places around here. Besides, I like my space.”

Their conversation was cut short when they both heard footsteps as the two others came back downstairs. Keith walked in first with a large instrument case in his hands, handing it to Ellis.

“Here ya go,” he said. “It should all be fine now.”

“Thanks man,” Ellis said with a big grin on his face as he took the case. “You’re the best.” 

“No problem,” the other replied. “I think you should probably go now, yer big city boyfriend seems all too ready to be on his way.” There was a playful tone to his voice, even if his face didn’t show it.

“Oh, piss off dude!” Ellis said with a laugh as he put the case on his back by the straps attached to it. Nick didn’t find the other’s remark all that funny, but that was probably just how the three friends liked to tease each other. 

“Whatever,” Nick scoffed as he turned on his heels to leave. He heard Ellis say goodbye to his friends as he made his way to open the door to step outside.

“Nice to meetcha, Nick,” he heard Keith say, although he had no doubt the other was being sarcastic. Ellis was soon out the door as well, and the two started walking side by side to Ellis’ place.

There was a moment of silence, which the hick then broke.

“So whaddya think?” 

“About what?” he asked, not really paying attention to the boy.

“Keith and Dave? I think they liked ya.”

Jesus, was he really that oblivious?

“Well, let’s just say that I have no difficulties seeing why you three are friends,” Nick replied coldly.

“Now what’s that supposed’ta mean?” Ellis asked, looking at him, eyebrows furrowed. 

“Christ, kid, I’m just playing with you,” Nick said with a huff. “Relax, no need to get your panties in a twist.” Ellis gave a relieved laugh at that, and Nick rolled his eyes as they continued their walk.

Somehow Nick felt that it was going to be a long couple of days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it, the first draft short for the story! Let me know what you think, and as always, feedback is very much appreciated! I have some other shorts planned for this before I will start writing the actual full story.
> 
> Until then, take care  
> \- DieNachtAugen


	3. Short 2: The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Context: Nick and Ellis have been having their affair for a short while now, and Dave and Keith decide to have a small talk with Nick when they're at Coach's bar.

The bar was jam-packed with people; youngsters, seniors, drunkards, sports fans, all kinds of people. Even those who weren’t all that into sports were there having a great time with friends and loved ones.

Nick was one of those people who generally enjoyed drinking more than doing sports (nevermind watching it on TV in some dingy bar). The place wasn’t even his first choice to be, but Ellis had wanted to come there and meet his friends; apparently it was their regular place during their days off to hang out and unwind. 

Ellis promptly made his way over to the counter where he tapped on the table with his hand to get the attention of the bartender. He was a taller black guy with a rather heavy build, wearing a dark blue and green Aloha-shirt and donning a pair of sunglasses lifted over on his forehead. He turned around when he was called and offered a heartfelt smile to the younger hick and walked over to him. 

Nick walked over next to Ellis just as the other two had finished their short exchange, and the bartender’s eyes shifted to him, with Ellis’ own not far after. 

“Well, look who finally made it over here,” Ellis said playfully and turned to lean on his right arm at the countertop so he was now facing the biker. The man behind the bar gave him a toothy smile and a hearty laugh.

“Well, I ain’t seen you here before,” he said. “This a friend of yours, young’un?”

“Sure is,” Ellis said with one of those signature grins of his, the kind that Nick just had gotten used to liking.

“Well then,” the bartender said, “The name’s Darnell, but you can jus’ call me Coach. Everyone does.”

“Nicolas,” the ex-gang member said before quickly correcting himself by sternly saying “Nick.” 

Coach just gave a short laugh and backed off a bit.

“Coach actually owns the place,” Ellis told Nick, which earned him a small hum as acknowledgement from the older man.

“Sho sho,” Coach remarked. “Now then, what can I get for ya, Nick?”

“Just a glass of whiskey’s fine,” Nick said after a couple of seconds of thinking it over. He shifted his gaze over to look around the bar as Coach got all the ingredients to mix the drink. “Jesus, this place is packed.”

“Yeah, it’s usually like that,” the younger man retorted and looked around as well, finally looking at the other. “It may not be the most fancy place or nothin’, but most of the people who come ’ere are regulars.” Nick nodded at that.

“Damn straight!” Coach chimed in as he put the mostly empty glass of whiskey on the table, which Nick took eagerly, handing the money and a hefty tip over to the man behind the bar. Ellis quickly turned his head to face Coach, still having his body facing the other man next to him. 

“Can I have a beer, please?” he asked with a friendly smirk. Coach leaned over to be on Ellis’ eye level, looking at him intently.

“I’ll hafta see your ID first, kid,” he said with a straight face. Ellis’, on the other hand, turned into a shocked expression.

“Wait, what?” Nick couldn’t help but laugh loudly at Ellis’ flabbergasted reaction, which in turn earned another laugh from Coach, and effectively, left Ellis utterly confused. “C’mon Coach, it’s not funny!”

“I mean,” Nick said in-between his chuckles, “can’t blame him. You look and sound like a teenager, I would probably ask for your ID, too.” He got a slightly annoyed look from the youngest of the trio.

“Naw, man,” Coach finally said after leveling his breath, “I’m jus playin’ with ya. Jus’ hold on a sec.”

After receiving and paying for his beer, Ellis took a rather big sip straight away, exhaling in content afterwards.

“Ho, man,” he exclaimed in his usually happy manner, “Imma tell ya what, a nice cold one is where it’s at.”

Nick couldn’t help but snort at the other’s remark.

“You’re pretty easy to please, aren’t ya?” he asked, albeit rhetorically. The hick gave a small hum in agreement in between taking sips of his drink.

They spent about half an hour next to the counter; Nick simply observing the place they were in and half-assedly listening to Ellis and Coach talking to each other about whatever. He only really paid attention when Ellis called out to his two friends who had just arrived. 

Even when Dave and Keith came to order their own drinks by the counter, they and Nick didn’t say a word to each other, only nodding heads in greeting. While the three goobers were talking about something (Nick, once again, couldn’t really be bothered to listen to what exactly), the gambler had finished his whiskey and decided to order a beer. He took the moment he had for himself to take a proper look at Ellis; the way he was so relaxed and casual around his friends, the way he smiled and laughed at during their conversation, and overall his body language and how energized he felt.

He didn’t even realize just how intently he was ogling Ellis until he saw the boy walk towards him, snapping him out of it.

“Hey, ya okay?” Ellis asked. “Yer lookin’ a bit outta it.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Nick answered him, although Ellis didn’t seem too convinced; he didn’t seem to realize why Nick had been so out of it, however, and just shrugged.

“Alrighty. Imma hafta go fer a minute, I’ll be right back, ‘kay?” Ellis said, and Nick didn’t have to guess where exactly it was Ellis was heading, so he simply nodded and the hick turned to make his way towards the restrooms.

Once Ellis was out of sight, however, the two other hicks came up to Nick; and looking at their faces, he could already tell whatever they had to say wasn’t going to be all that positive.

“Hey,” the blonde said with slight caution in his voice, “could we talk to ya fer a moment?” He glanced quickly around the counter, and then back at him. “Like, just the three of us?”

Nick wasn’t really in the mood to be talking to Keith and Dave, especially since he knew that they already weren’t particularly fond of him, even if Ellis tried to convince them that Nick wasn’t as much of an asshole as he outwardly seemed to be.

However, he also knew that if he didn’t go and have a chat with the two right now when they asked, he’d probably have to go through it later on; so instead of postponing the inevitable, he decided to face whatever shitshow was coming his way head on.

He sighed in frustration as he got out of his seat.

“Fine, let’s go.”

With Nick on their heels, Keith and Dave made their way to a table at a distant corner that, surprisingly, wasn’t already occupied. It was located so that it was in a more secluded place, and thus you weren’t able to watch TV and weren’t really close to the bar, either, so it probably wasn’t crowded with people all that often.

The three men sat down around the table, with Keith and Dave on the other side next to each other and Nick by himself on the other side. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Nick decided to break the ice.

“So, did you have something to talk to me about? Or did you just take me here to gawk at me?”

The two others exchanged looks, after which Dave let out a long, drawn out sigh.

“Look,” he began, looking up at the man sitting opposite of him, “we wanted to talk to ya about you an’ Ellis.” 

Nick didn’t say anything, simply raising his eyebrow while maintaining a neutral face.

“We know that you and ‘im have something goin’ on between the two a’ ya,” this time it was Keith who spoke. “So we jus’ wanna ask you straight away what yer intentions with ’im are.”

Nick took another sip of his drink before bothering to answer.

“And what gave you the idea that me and Ellis have anything going on?”

“Oh, please,” the taller of the two said dismissively. “We’ve known ‘im fer a very long time.” He gestured towards his friend, “He’s known Ellis fer almost six years,” and then towards himself, “I’ve known ‘im for almost twenty years.” Keith set his hand back on his lap. “So don’t you even try to pull wool over our eyes.”

Nick snorted and rolled his eyes, taking yet another gulp of his beer. Dave was looking rather annoyed at him, while Keith’s face remained unchanged.

“Listen,” Keith continued, “We know yer supposed ta be some sort of gambling man with a facade an’ whatnot…”

It was at this point where his voice became noticeably darker, even lower than it already was.

“...but lemme tell ya, when it comes ta our friend, ya ain’t gonna be able to spin yer bullshit on us.”

Nick sighed, yet again. He already felt like he wanted to just leave the place completely. Nonetheless, he maintained eye contact with the man in front of him. After another short moment, he finally spoke out.

“So what if me and him have a fling?” He smirked in his normal, asshole-y way. “What’s it to you two?”

Dave positioned himself to lean on his forearms against the table.

“What’s it ta us,” he said “is that we need ta know exactly what yer plans are with ‘im. Are you actually planning on having some sort a’ meaningful relationship with ‘im, or are ya just using ‘im fer yer own amusement?”

The corner of Nick’s mouth quipped slightly in irritation. He wasn’t really happy about being interrogated about his motivations. The two hicks had already figured out his “relationship” (if that’s what you wanted to call it) with Ellis, so there wasn’t all that much point in trying to lie about it now. All he could do was to try not to give out too much information.

“So why are you pulling this inquisition on me, anyways?” he finally asked. “My intentions aren’t exactly any of your business, now are they?”

This time it was Keith’s turn to sigh loudly. Even though his facial expression still hadn’t faltered, the gambler could tell that he was getting more and more irritated.

“It is our business because we know how Ellis is when takes a likin’ ta others,” Keith said. “‘Cause whether or not ya know it, or just don’t care, or deliberately don’t wanna acknowledge it, Ellis does actually like ya a lot, an’ we kin tell.” 

Nick was a bit shocked at what Keith was saying. Despite being able to read people quite well, he wasn’t exactly good at telling when someone had feelings towards him, specifically. He was aware of the affection the younger man had shown towards him; he just wasn’t sure how strong the feeling had been, so hearing Keith so boldly claim that Ellis did harbor some actual romantic feelings towards him made him surprised.

After another moment of complete silence between the three, Keith continued.

“Look, at the end of ta day, we don’ really care what exactly you two do; that’s yer business. However, if yer not gonna tell us whatcher plannin’, what we need ya ta do, is to at least let Ellis know exactly what ya want with ‘im, instead of stringing ‘im along just fer shits ‘n giggles.”

At this point Dave had started to look remorseful, as if there was something else besides what they were talking about that was bothering him. Keith continued once again.

“I know how Ellis gets; especially when his feelin’s really get hurt.” He swallowed and let out a shaky breath. “I don’ want it ta happen ta ‘im again.”

It was at that point when something in Nick’s brain clicked; the way Keith had worded his sentence, and especially the way he sounded when he said it, told him that there was something he and Dave themselves were leaving out.

It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together, and a sly smile crept its way onto his lips. He leaned back a bit and looked at the two.

“Speaking from first-hand experience, now are you, Keith?”

Nick knew he had hit bullseye when he saw Dave’s face turn to a shocked expression, and although Keith’s face was still donning a poker face that could almost put his own to shame, he knew that what he was implying was true when he saw Keith clench his jaws tightly together.

Nick let out a small laugh. So Keith and Ellis had had something between the two of them; and yet these two hillbillies somehow thought they could question him about his and Ellis’ affair. 

“So, how long has it been, then?” Nick was now able to turn the tables against the one who had been up his business all this time.

And finally, Keith’s facade had broken, and he let his eyes drop down in defeat.

“And why do ya wanna know?” Dave quickly asked him in return, to which Nick simply laughed at again.

“Sorry, Cletus,” he said dryly, “this conversation’s a two-way street. I think I’m allowed to ask some questions, too.”

Dave glanced at Keith in a questioning manner, and the latter simply sighed heavily.

“It’s been a while,” Keith began. “We were jus’ teenagers at the time, and we never really did anything big. And it was mostly jus’ us tryin’ ta find ourselves.” There was a pregnant pause, after which he lifted his gaze to meet Nick’s. “But I guess it was somethin’ more ta Ellis. And I didn’t notice it before it got pretty serious.”

There was resentment in his voice; for himself, most likely. Nick found Keith’s momentary vulnerability almost uncomfortable.

“Fer me it was never nothin’ too serious, or at least I never wanted it ta be that way. Ellis, however, he had caught feelin’s fer me, and he was under ta imperssion that I liked him back the same way. Poor bastard took it really badly when I told ‘im I didn’t want nothin’ real outta it.”

Nick cleared his throat and looked away for a moment to process what Keith had just told him. Although he found Ellis to be obnoxious and annoying at times, and as much as he wanted to seem like he didn’t care about others, he didn’t want to actually hurt Ellis, or see him hurt. And deep down he did know that what they had was at least something, even if didn’t want to admit it.

“An’ with that bein’ said,” Nick looked back up to see that Dave had decided to rejoin the conversation, “I hope you kin understand where we’re comin’ from when we say that we are worried about Ellis.”

Without a word, Nick quickly stood up from his seat and started walking back to where the counter was. Ellis had come back to talk to Coach while Nick had had his conversation with his friends, and turned to look at him.

“Yo, Nick!” 

Nick ignored and walked past him towards the exit. Before he could get out, however, he felt someone’s hand land on his shoulder that made him halt. He turned around to meet those familiar baby blue eyes that were now riddled with worry and confusion.

“Nick?” Ellis asked with audible concern in his voice. “What’s wrong?”

Nick took a deep breath and took to gently removing the hand from his shoulder.

“I need a little time for myself.” he said simply. “If I’m not back here before closing time, I’ll come to your place, okay?” 

And without allowing the younger man to answer him, he was already out the door and walking down the street, his head filled with a storm of emotions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! As always, feedback is highly appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it for the introductory chapter, if you read it, thank you very much! I should have the story shorts coming out soon enough, so keep an eye out for those!
> 
> Until then, take care  
> \- DieNachtAugen


End file.
